Class action reform sharpens competition law regime

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Consumer and SME payouts by companies in breach of competition law will become a common feature of the UK legal landscape

If effective influencing of corporate activity requires a deft use of both
carrot and stick, then the stick may just be becoming a little bigger for
challenging anti-competitive behaviour.

After much deliberation, the Government has finally resolved to sharpen the
regime governing claims for redress against companies that breach
competition rules. The current regime suffers from a number of obstacles
which have deterred consumers and small business victims of anti-competitive
behaviour from claiming compensation or seeking injunctions.

Last week, Business Secretary Vince Cable announced important reforms to the
private actions mechanism in competition cases. These include a significant
shake-up of

Court of Appeal
Published: March 3, 2015
In re M and Others (Children) (Abduction: Child’s Objections)
Before Lord Justice Richards, Lady Justice Black and Lord Justice Ryder
Judgment: January 27, 2015
When a court was determining whether, for the purposes of article 13 of the
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 1980,
a child who objected to being returned to his country of habitual residence
had attained the age and degree of maturity at which it was appropriate to
take account of his views, the exercise required was a straightforward
examination of whether the terms of the Convention had been satisfied
without the use of any technical subsidiary tests